Preview: Frenemy Pastry Party

Delicious cakes and adorable animal friends – what more can you ask for in a filler game? Solis Game Studio is localizing this Taiwanese release from Mizo Games, and we can’t wait to join this quick, beautiful bake off.

In Frenemy Pastry Party you play as one of several darling animals, all gathered together to have a nice afternoon baking cakes together. The spirit of the day is helpfulness, but you also want include the most of your very favorite ingredient in as many of your friends’ cakes as you can! Bake delicious desserts and be a supportive friend to win!

How to Play

To play Frenemy Pastry Party, first set up the Baker’s Table, by shuffling the ingredient deck and dealing out 5 cards faceup, as well as shuffling the cake recipe deck and dealing out 3 cards faceup. Then deal two ingredients and an Animal card to each player. The player who most recently ate a cake goes first. On your turn, you can either take an ingredient from the Baker’s Table, take two of the same ingredient if 4 of the 5 ingredient cards in the Baker’s Table are the same, or start to bake a cake. Baking cakes requires a combination of ingredients and are almost always made cooperatively with other players, but here’s the trick: you only get to score the cakes you start, and you only get to score the ingredients you contribute to someone else’s cake.

When you bake a cake, you choose a cake recipe from the Baker’s Table, and can pick any other player and ask them to contribute a specific kind of ingredient. If they have that ingredient they may choose to contribute up to the requirement for the recipe. After they contribute, you may then choose to ask them for another ingredient, or finish the cake yourself, or move on to a second player. If they do not have the ingredient you asked for or do not wish to contribute it, you must either finish the cake yourself or move to a second player. You may ask the second player for ingredients just like the first player, but if they do not or will not contribute to your cake, you must finish it yourself. If the recipe is completed, you keep the cake card: it is worth 5 points. The other players who contributed to your cake score their ingredient cards by placing them under their Animal card, with each ingredient card worth 1 point.

The game ends when only two recipes remain. Animal cards are revealed and resolved now. Most of the animals have a favorite ingredient that they want to have the most of in their contribution score pile. The Otter just wants to have the most total cards in their contribution score pile. Whichever Animal card you have, a tie doesn’t cut it – you must have the most of your chosen ingredient. Add it all up, and most points wins. There is no tiebreaker, and with generally low total scores for this game, make sure you have the most points because sharing victory means less cake for you.

At 3-6 plays and lasting 20-30 mins, this is a lovely start to a gaming night or the cherry on top of a great evening. Frenemy Pastry Party is currently on Kickstarter with a projected fulfillment date of September.